Notice of call for expressions of interest - Scientific and Technical Support - Various Scientific Profiles
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- Science Professionals
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- EOI/EFSA/2020/01 Requisition #
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- May 29, 2020 Post Date
Notice of call for expressions of interest (corrigendum)
Scientific and Technical Support in the areas of the assessment of Animal Health and Animal Welfare, Biological hazards and Chemical contaminants, Pesticides, Plant health, Genetically Modified Organisms, Food Additives, Food Contact Materials, Food Enzymes, Feed additives, Novel Foods and Nutrition
1. INTRODUCTION TO EFSA AS CONTRACTING AUTHORITY
CONTRACTING AUTHORITY:
European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)
Via Carlo Magno 1A
Parma
43126
Italy
E-mail: EFSAProcurement@efsa.europa.eu
More information about EFSA can be found here: http://www.efsa.europa.eu/
2. LIST OF INDIVIDUALS FOR SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL SUPPORT SCHEME
2.1 OBJECTIVE OF THE CALL
The objective of this call for expressions of interest is to establish a list of individuals (natural persons) with scientific expertise to assist EFSA in carrying out the preparatory work in the areas of generic risk assessments and the assessment of applications for the authorisation of regulated products, in particular in the areas of animal health and welfare, pesticides, plant health risk assessment, genetically modified organisms, food additives, food contact materials, food enzymes, novel foods and feed additives. The delivered preparatory work will be reviewed by EFSA staff and/or ad hoc experts for its use in EFSA scientific outputs.
Background Information
Many food and feed related products require a scientific assessment to evaluate their safety before risk managers can authorise them for the EU market. These so-called regulated products include substances used in food and feed (such as additives, enzymes, flavourings, novel foods and nutrient sources), food contact materials and pesticides, genetically modified organisms, food-related processes and processing aids.
In addition, EFSA carries out generic risk assessments in the area of food safety, animal health and welfare and plant health. Furthermore, EFSA provides scientific advice on all aspects of animal diseases and well-being of food producing-animals during breeding, rearing, transportation and slaughter. Analysis of the impact that the conditions and treatment of animals can have on both animal and human health.
EFSA main plant health activities include: pest categorisation, quantitative pest risk assessment, commodity risk assessment, horizon scanning and support to plant pests surveillance and to prioritisation of quarantine plant pests.
EFSA carries out these assessments to support EU risk managers in their decision-making.
Relevant Links
The complete list of guidance documents prepared by the CEP and FAF Panels is available on the EFSA website: http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/applications/foodingredients/regulationsandguidance
The complete list of guidance documents prepared by the FEEDAP Panel is available on the EFSA website:
The complete list of guidance documents to be used in the risk assessment for pesticides is available on the EFSA website: http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/applications/pesticides/regulationsandguidance
The complete list of guidance documents prepared by the GMO Panel is available on the EFSA website: http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/applications/gmo/regulationsandguidance
An introduction to EFSA activites on animal health and welfare is available on the EFSA website: http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/topics/topic/animal-health-and-welfare
An introduction to EFSA plant health activities is available on the EFSA website at http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/topics/topic/plant-health.
2.2 FIELDS OF EXPERTISE SOUGHT & REQUIRED TASKS
Individuals are required to have scientific expertise of the major knowledge areas listed below (more details about the content of each scientific expertise is given in the Annex IV of the tender specifications):
- Microbiological characterisation and assessment of possible genetic modifications of the microorganisms used as additives or as production strains in the food or feed chain;
- Microbiological risk assessment of novel foods including expertise in the safety assessment of food enzymes;
- Chemistry and microbiology (viruses, bacteria, fungi, etc.);
- Chemical and physiochemical characterisation of novel foods including expertise in NMR, mass spectrometry and in the characterisation of chemical complexes and/or nanomaterials
- Physical-chemical properties of plant protection products and their active substances;
- Methods of analysis of plant protection products and of their residues;
- Toxicology and regulatory toxicology;
- Non dietary exposure and risk assessment of plant protection products;
- Environmental fate and behaviour of plant protection products;
- Ecotoxicology;
- Ecology and population dynamics;
- Ecological/Environmental exposure and risk assessment;
- New approach methodologies (e.g. in silico approaches, in chemico and in vitro assays, new testing tools, such as “high-throughput screening” and “high-content methods” e.g. genomics including where appropriate the analysis of (whole) genome sequencing, proteomics, metabolomics);
- Physiology and metabolism of yeasts and filamentous fungi;
- Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) from genetically modified plant to micro-organisms;
- Agronomic and phenotypic characterisation of cultivated plants;
- Efficacy studies of feed additives in target animals (covering both food-producing animals and pets and non-food producing animals);
- Safety studies (toxicological studies) of food, feed additives food contact materials and GMO;
- Dietary exposure for food enzymes and food contact materials;
- Dietary exposure assessment - Plant protection products risk assessment;
- Literature review and/or Statistical analysis;
- Environmental risk assessment of feed additives
- Industrial fermentations and downstream processing;
- Epidemiology, with experience in the analysis of animal health and welfare data for surveillance, outbreak investigation, vaccine efficacy estimation, sample size calculations and statistical and mathematical modelling for risk assessment purposes;
- Scientific evaluation on animal health standards and animal disease control strategies (eradication measures, contingency planning etc.)
- Animal welfare, with experience on the assessment of Animal Based Measures;
- Geographical information Systems and analysis, model building in ArcGIS, Cartography and graphic design;
- Proven experience in systematic or extensive literature searches in the areas of animal and plant health
- Data science;
- Plant health risk assessment;
- International standards on phytosanitary measures;
- Plant pathology
- Entomology or acarology of plants or plant products
- Statistical and mathematical modelling for plant health risk assessment purposes, including: plant disease epidemiology, insect population ecology, modelling plant pests’ invasions, sample size calculations;
- Statistical analysis with expertise in human study design;
- Regulatory science
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Whole Genome Sequencing of foodborne pathogens
- Antimicrobial resistance, including mechanisms of resistance and epidemiological aspects
- Zoonotic agents (including Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies), including their detection, characterisation, occurrence, monitoring, analysis and epidemiology
- Processing of animal-by-products for biological risk reduction
- Efficacy and safety of chemical or biological substances/agents for the removal of surface contamination of foods of animal or non-animal origin
- Microbiological risk assessment (including modelling)
- Predictive microbiology
- Food hygiene
- Analytical chemistry for the monitoring of chemical contaminants in the food chain
- Assessment of exposure to chemical contaminants
- Analytical chemistry: chemical indentification and specification of chemical substances present in food contact materials, food enzymes and food additives
- Migration testing and modeling for food contact materials
- Organic and polymer chemistry
- Recycling technologies used for plastics and chemical engineering
- Food technology (manufacturing processes and use of food additives)
- Food composition
- Food formulation
- Microbe physiology under stress conditions (fermentation, scale-up): production of undesired substances.
Individuals are required to have scientific expertise for undertaking the following tasks when applicable to the area of their interest, in particular (indicative tasks by scientific expertise are described in Annex IV of the tender specifications):
- Provide preliminary completeness check of dossiers, in compliance with EFSA administrative and scientific guidance documents;
- Analyse and extract critical data extracted from dossier submitted (factual/ key findings/ observations/ uncertainties/ missing information) and prepare summary reports;
- Perform additional literature search and/or statistical analysis, when needed;
- Prepare input data to launch call-for-data. Collate and process data of food consumption, food processing and recipes. Disaggregate national dietary survey to FoodEx system;
- Preparation of draft assessments on the pesticide residues in plants, residues in livestock and consumer risk assessment, on the basis of the Member State Assessment reports;
- Analyse the data provided in Draft/Renewal Assessment Report (DAR/RAR) provided by the responsible Rapporteur Member State and any supporting documents;
- Preparation of draft assessments on the specific chapter of the DAR/RAR;
- Prepare summary report from literature for risk assessment purposes on animal health, animal welfare, plant health, foodborne pathogens, chemical contaminants, antimicrobial resistance, food additives and flavourings, food contact materials, enzymes and processing aids: data extracted from methodology and result section (key findings/uncertainty/conclusions/recommendations/gaps);
- Performing microbiological risk assessments,including modelling of pathogen behaviour.
- Propose draft GIS analysis on vector or raster data and apply a GIS workflow; making maps in a variety of ways and present them in a multitude of media;
- Attend meetings, either physically or via web-conference if necessary.
2.3 PROCEDURAL ASPECTS OF THE LIST
HOW THE LIST IS ESTABLISHED AND MAINTAINED
• The procedure has its legal basis in Art 237 of the EU Financial Regulation.
• Individuals submit an expression of interest in accordance with the rules set out in this notice.
• The contracting authority will draw up a list of individuals who meet the criteria set out at point 3.
• Individuals listed in the list do not act or speak on behalf of EFSA and EFSA cannot be held responsible for their actions and expressions.
LIST DURATION
The list resulting from this call for expression of interests is valid for maximum 4 years from publication of the notice. The list is intended to cover the period of activity of the EFSA mandate in the areas of Animal Health and Animal Welfare, Pesticides, Plant health, Genetically Modified Organisms, Food Additives, Food Contact Materials, Food Enzymes, Feed additives, Novel Foods and Nutrition. It may be closed as a result of a period of inactivity.
The list resulting from this call for expression of interests will be used exclusively for execution of the tasks described at point 2.2 above.
Inclusion on the list entails no obligation on the part of EFSA to award a contract.
LIMITATION TO VOLUME PER INDIVIDUAL
Maximum amount that can be paid to an individual during the whole duration of the list is 139.000 €, including both remunerations and possible reimbursements.
HOW INDIVIDUALS ARE SELECTED FOR PARTICULAR ASSIGNMENTS
Where a particular task relating to the field described at point 2.2 is to be performed by an individual, the contracting authority will assign individuals to the task on the basis of the skills, experience and knowledge necessary and in accordance with the principles of non-discrimination, equal treatment and absence of conflict of interests.
The tasks will be formalised in a service request sent to the individual selected and via a specific contract.
DECLARATION OF INTEREST (DoI)
EFSA will request an Individual DoI to be submitted prior to the signature of the contract. The requirement to submit an Individual DoI will be specified in the award letter. Individual DoI will be assessed by EFSA before and as a condition of the contract signature. Please refer to EFSA’s policy on independence and the Decision of the Executive Director on Competing Interest Management for more detailed information.
The individual DoI form is available here and as annex III of this Notice of call for expressions of interest.
2.4 CONDITIONS OF APPOINTMENT FOR A PARTICULAR ASSIGNMENT
REMUNERATION
Individuals shall be remunerated at a fixed fee of 350 euros per day worked.
The individuals commit themselves to respect applicable national legislation, including taxation, social security and labour law with regard to any payment received from EFSA.
EXPENSES REIMBURSEMENT
Where applicable, the travel and subsistence expenses will be reimbursed under the conditions set out in the contract according to the conditions stipulated in Annex I.
PLACE OF WORK
Tasks will be carried out in most of the cases remotely and delivered using electronic communication tools. In certain cases EFSA may request that specific tasks are carried out in EFSA premises or other sites that will be mentioned in the contract specifications.
2.5 EX POST TRANSPARENCY
A list of individuals who have concluded with EFSA a contract of more than 15.000 € following the procedure set out at point 2.3 shall be published on EFSA website, no later than 30 June of the year following the year in which the contract was awarded. Information published includes name of individual, locality (region of origin), amount, and subject of the contract. The information shall be removed two years after the year of the contract award.
3. REQUIREMENTS
3.1 ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
Applicants must be citizens of a Member State of the European Union (EU), or of a country of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) or of an EU Candidate country. Experts from third countries may also apply, and will be considered, if the required level of expertise may not be found among nationals of EU, EFTA or EU Candidate countries.
3.2 EXCLUSION CRITERIA
Individuals shall be excluded from participation in the award where they are in one or more of the following exclusion situations:
(a) the person or entity is bankrupt, subject to insolvency or winding-up procedures, its assets are being administered by a liquidator or by a court, it is in an arrangement with creditors, its business activities are suspended, or it is in any analogous situation arising from a similar procedure provided for under Union or national law;
(b) it has been established by a final judgment or a final administrative decision that the person or entity is in breach of its obligations relating to the payment of taxes or social security contributions in accordance with the applicable law;
(c) it has been established by a final judgment or a final administrative decision that the person or entity is guilty of grave professional misconduct by having violated applicable laws or regulations or ethical standards of the profession to which the person or entity belongs, or by having engaged in any wrongful conduct which has an impact on its professional credibility where such conduct denotes wrongful intent or gross negligence, including, in particular, any of the following:
(i) fraudulently or negligently misrepresenting information required for the verification of the absence of grounds for exclusion or the fulfilment of eligibility or selection criteria or in the implementation of the legal commitment;
(ii) entering into agreement with other persons or entities with the aim of distorting competition;
(iii) violating intellectual property rights;
(iv) attempting to influence the decision-making of the authorising officer responsible during the award procedure;
(v) attempting to obtain confidential information that may confer upon it undue advantages in the award procedure;
(d) it has been established by a final judgment that the person or entity is guilty of any of the following:
(i) fraud, within the meaning of Article 3 of Directive (EU) 2017/1371 of the European Parliament and of the Council (1) and Article 1 of the Convention on the protection of the European Communities’ financial interests, drawn up by the Council Act of 26 July 1995 ( 2);
(ii) corruption, as defined in Article 4(2) of Directive (EU) 2017/1371 or active corruption within the meaning of Article 3 of the Convention on the fight against corruption involving officials of the European Communities or officials of Member States of the European Union, drawn up by the Council Act of 26 May 1997 (3), or conduct referred to in Article 2(1) of Council Framework Decision 2003/568/JHA (4), or corruption as defined in other applicable laws;
(iii) conduct related to a criminal organisation as referred to in Article 2 of Council Framework Decision 2008/841/JHA (5);
(iv) money laundering or terrorist financing within the meaning of Article 1(3), (4) and (5) of Directive (EU) 2015/849 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 1);
(v) terrorist offences or offences linked to terrorist activities, as defined in Articles 1 and 3 of Council Framework Decision 2002/475/JHA (2), respectively, or inciting, aiding, abetting or attempting to commit such offences, as referred to in Article 4 of that Decision;
(vi) child labour or other offences concerning trafficking in human beings as referred to in Article 2 of Directive 2011/36/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (3);
(e) the person or entity has shown significant deficiencies in complying with main obligations in the implementation of a legal commitment financed by the budget which has:
(i) led to the early termination of a legal commitment;
(ii) led to the application of liquidated damages or other contractual penalties; or
(iii) been discovered by an authorising officer, OLAF or the Court of Auditors following checks, audits or investigations;
(f) it has been established by a final judgment or final administrative decision that the person or entity has committed an irregularity within the meaning of Article 1(2) of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2988/95 (4);
(g) it has been established by a final judgment or final administrative decision that the person or entity has created an entity in a different jurisdiction with the intent to circumvent fiscal, social or any other legal obligations in the jurisdiction of its registered office, central administration or principal place of business;
(h) it has been established by a final judgment or final administrative decision that an entity has been created with the intent referred to in point (g).
SUPPORTING EVIDENCE REQUESTED
The declaration of honour on exclusion criteria is available here and as annex II of this Notice of call for expressions of interest.
In question 7 of the application form, applicants are requested to declare that they are in none of the situations listed in section I "SITUATION OF EXCLUSION CONCERNING THE PERSON" and section IV "GROUNDS FOR REJECTION FROM THIS PROCEDURE". EFSA reserves the right to ask for further supporting evidence of non-exclusion.
In case applicants are in one or more of the situations of exclusion/grounds for rejection, they must download, complete and send the declaration of honour on exclusion criteria and relevant documentation to EFSAProcurement@efsa.europa.eu.
3.3 SELECTION CRITERIA
Applicants to be placed on the list shall be selected on the basis of their professional and technical capacity to perform the tasks described in point 2.2. In particular, the applicants must meet these selection criteria to evidence their capacity:
(i) Education
A level of education which corresponds to completed university studies of at least three (3) years attested by a diploma in one of the following fields:
• Genetics,
• Ecology
• Plant Sciences,
• Veterinary Science,
• Zoology/Entomology
• (Mammalian) Toxicology,
• Human Medicine,
• Biology/Microbiology,
• Chemistry,
• Biochemistry,
• Agronomy/Crop Sciences/Forestry sciences,
• Mathematics/Statistics/Biostatistics,
• Food/Feed Technology,
• Pharmacology,
• Exposure Assessment,
• Epidemiology,
• Regulatory Science,
• Information Science,
• or related areas.
(ii) Professional experience
In addition to the above:
• at least 3 years of proven professional experience in at least one of the above fields in which the above qualifications (i) were obtained; and
• demonstrable experience in the risk assessment in the scientific areas indicated in Annex IV, as evidenced by:
-the preparation and drafting of at least 2 relevant risk assessment reports and/or publications in peer-reviewed journals related to the above-mentioned scientific expertise, carried out in the last 5 years before the application date (the publications should be in EN); and
• an excellent ability to communicate clearly and effectively in both spoken and written English, evidenced by either:
-having written at least 2 reports or publications in English; or
-a certificate demonstrating at least level B.2 of the Common European Framework of References for Languages; or
-having worked for at least 2 years in a working environment where the day-to-day working language for meetings, communications is English.
SUPPORTING EVIDENCE REQUESTED
• CV evidencing the above requirements.
• Before any contract of appointment, EFSA reserves the right to request the selected applicant to provide supporting documents relating to their education and professional experience (i.e. copy of university degree, and certificates of working experience, etc.) to demonstrate fulfilment of the selection criteria.
4. HOW TO APPLY
4.1 GENERAL INFORMATION
The call for expression of interests shall be read in conjunction with its annexes which contain essential additional information.
Submission of an application implies the acceptance of the terms and conditions laid down in this Call for the Expression of Interest (CEI) and all the relevant annexes.
Expenditure on preparing and submitting expressions of interest will not be reimbursed by EFSA.
Applications should be submitted in one of the official languages of the European Union.
Applications may be submitted at any time during the period of validity of the call for expression of interest, with the exception of the last three months of that period. However, we advise you to apply as early as possible, as assignments can arise at any point in time during the validity of the list.
Individuals may withdraw their application at any moment by written notice to EFSA.
Incoming applications received in response to this call will be evaluated on a need basis. Individuals will be notified of the outcome of their application as soon as possible after the evaluation is finished.
4.2 APPLICATION PROCESS
The application shall be submitted online on the EFSA careers page. Fill in and sign electronically the application form (the Declaration for non-exclusion criteria is embedded in the application form).
4.3 PERSONAL DATA PROTECTION
As an EU Agency, EFSA is subject to Regulation (EU) 2018/1725, forming the primary legal basis for measuring the lawfulness of personal data processing. The applicability of this Regulation in the context of this call has the following implications:
- As data Controller, EFSA shall ensure that personal data contained in your application (e.g. names of individuals, CVs, contact details, financial details of individuals, declarations of interest) is processed in compliance with the Regulation. More detailed information on the processing of personal data in the context of procurement procedures of EFSA is available in the Privacy Statement on our website (see: https://www.efsa.europa.eu/sites/default/files/assets/procurementprivacystatement.pdf);
- The selected individual acts as a processor of EFSA with regard to personal data handled under the contract in the sense of Article 29 of the Regulation. In accordance with this provision, the individual:
• shall only process personal data on documented instructions of EFSA as the data Controller,
• ensures that persons processing personal data have committed themselves to confidentiality,
• undertakes appropriate technical and organisational measures to ensure the confidential and secure processing of personal data needed for the implementation of the Contract,
• deletes or returns to EFSA all personal data after the end of the provision of services,
• makes available to EFSA all information necessary to demonstrate compliance with the obligations pursuant to the Regulation and allows for or contributes to audits and inspections by or on behalf of EFSA,
• notifies personal data breaches to EFSA.
Annex I - TRAVEL COSTS AND SUBSISTENCE ALLOWANCES
Travel costs
These lump sums must be applied for travel costs:
| Distance in road Km | Travel cost |
| up to 100 | no allowance |
| between 100 - 400 | 200 € |
| above 400 | 400 € |
Daily subsistence allowances (DSA)
The DSA of 200 € applies if the distance between the place of residence of the individual and the agreed place of work is more than 50 km. Such DSA covers accommodation, meals, local transport to reach airport/train station etc. For each started day of a presence in the agreed place of work one DSA is granted.
Annex II - DECLARATION OF HONOUR FOR EXCLUSION CRITERIA
Annex III - INDIVIDUAL DECLARATION OF INTEREST FORM
Annex IV - Scientific Expertise
Annex V - Best Practices Declaring Interests
Annex VI - Draft Contract